January 2016

friends

March 09, 2011

I have been thinking a lot about friends lately. I have a lot of wonderful friends. Some friends are my oldest friends, who know everything about me because we have spent our entire lives knowing each other and even though we may only see each other once a year, we pick right up where we left off. Some are middle school friends who, well, helped me through those horrible middle school years. Then the high school friends. Some who have been constant companions over the last 16 years, and some who have come back into my life with a bang (and will never lose touch with again.) Some friends are music friends, some scrapbooking friends, some neighbors who I will dream about living by again forever. Friends who have become my family. Little friends who I love watching grow up. Ohio friends, PA friends, living in the computer friends. Regardless of your title, I cherish each and every one of you. You have become a part of me and you have made me who I am. And I thank you for that.

August 07, 2010

July 14, 2010

Well, that was an unplanned, really long break. For my readers that have stuck around for the drought, I thank you. A few things have been happening around here so lets get started.1. I'm pregnant! (Hence the super long break) Due January 14 and hoping to feel better and more energized soon. Keep your fingers crossed.2. We went to Ohio! A wedding of an old friend, THREE double dates with Ben and Missy, and a long car ride where Bj and I actually talked without being interrupted. It was the longest time we have spent together since July 2007. Wow.3. We went to the Cleveland Zoo and I got to play with my Dad's telephoto lens. Two of my favorite pictures of the day were the Mama Koalas and their new babies. Have to say I'm excited to do this in January :)
We had to be very quiet-only whispers to prevent waking their slumber.
And boy is it hard to keep color consistent under zoo lights. But sadly we remember I can never, ever be a wildlife photographer, so zoo lights it is. I was also super surprised with the sheer volume these birds could create. It literally hurt the ears...but check out the boca! Didn't know I could have that with a telephoto.
We took this trip with a very large group and have to say it was so much fun-until Charlie was done, and then Charlie was done. But it was fun with Nonnie, Bapa, Shelly, Jalen, Missy, Maya, Laney, Rachel, Riley, Brady, Stephanie and Brenna. See? A lot of people!4. Lily and Maya had their very first official sleepover. Sadly it will be the last for a while, but it was an interesting experiment...yeah, sorry again Missy ;)
Charlie got to hang out for a while too-just long enough to teach Laney a few new tricks.
(sorry again, Missy ;)5. We also went to see fireworks-my first time in many years. Actually I think one of the last times was back in the day of a film camera where I took a million pictures to commemorate the engagement of Cassie & Patrick-lucky for me I ended up with one good one. I still need some practice on the firework shot for the next time. It is hard...
6. Next up was our family reunion. I can't remember the last time I saw my cousins-at least fifteen years, and I have never met any of their GORGEOUS kids. Let me just say I am really proud to say, every single one of them was so sweet, so nice, so fun. I just wish I got to see them more. Lily was especially taken with the girls and their crafts and most definitely Hayley who was famous (to her) with her broken foot. The boys kept Bj very busy with all the basketball and catch (although I am happy to say, I got in a really good catch with Dylan myself and I still have it if I do say so myself ;)
7. Finally, the parade. Sadly I didn't take too many pictures this year as it was so so hot. I was hot. REally hot. Unpleasantly hot. Plus I had to try to keep Charlie away from eating all 20 pounds of our candy. I only slightly succeeded. At least he listened to me when I asked him to show me his blue tongue.
So that's it-our Ohio trip. Stay tuned for more stories-primarily about a boy named Charlie. Really, you want to stay tuned. And hopefully it will be blogged soon...

June 08, 2010

1. Good: Did you see? I am one of the newest design team members of Write, Click, Scrapbook. So excited, so inspired, and I think you should check it out. Click on the Blinkie. Look! I have a Blinkie! That's a first too.2. Bad: I got stung by a bee the other day. Not enough to hurt, but enough to itch like crazy. Still.3. Good: I went to an AMAZING photography workshop on Friday with my dear friend Rachel. I learned SO much, now have a million new inside jokes to giggle about, and so many new techniques to try.4. Bad (really, really, really bad) When I was on my way back, Charlie fell and had his tooth impacted, or pushed all the way up into his gum. The ER didn't believe Bj when he said the tooth didn't fall out-they couldn't see it at all. Bj called from the ER and told me what happened. Needless to say I didn't handle it very well. After a night of the worst migraine I have ever had, I woke up and we took Charlie to a Pediatric Dentist and where he had the tooth extracted. It was stressful, horrible, and sad. Charlie is FINE, but still. I think about long term effects, everything from how he will eat corn on the cob to will he have a speech problem; everything has been running through my mind.5. Good: Charlie said today at the park "I'm so happy Mama. I'm so happy." and "This is fun, Mama!" I think this is his way of telling me it's ok. STOP HOVERING.6. Bad: I forgot my camera in Ohio. Seriously?7. Good: I got it back today-all in one piece. 8. Bad: I am on a mission impossible to find another lovey for Charlie. After the accident it has seen better days. Hello, why didn't I buy two at the time?9. Good: I had the BEST dinner tonight. Organic crock pot chicken, an ALL organic/fresh from a friend's garden salad and some really good melon. Awesome.10. Good (because it would be best to end this on a happy note): Photo-a-day for May is complete and edited and will be updated here soon. Checking one thing off the list at a time.

April 29, 2010

Well we all know that I kind of missed Ten on Tuesday this week, so I am going to make it up to all of you with ten random pictures I haven't shared...but should have. Oh and I have "fixed" my Typepad double spacing problem. How? I have to SHIFT RETURN to start a new paragraph and not cause everything to double space. That is the fix? Irritating.

1. One trip back to Ohio...forever ago, Lily got to have a playdate with Maya and Julie. Oh she was in heaven-as you can see here.
2. Charlie and I went on a fun trip to Gettysburg Explore and More Museum. He had a BLAST. He kept saying over and over "I like it! I like it, Mama!" And I think this was actually his first real sentence.
3. Lily suddenly starting posing like this-every single time I took her picture. How cute is she. Unrelated story...Lily was walking up the stairs this morning and fell and got a nasty goose egg on her leg. After the tears stopped she got up to walk. She would take three steps and fall DRAMATICALLY. Again and again. Funny, funny, overly dramatic girl.
4. I had a New Moon party a few weeks ago and yes, I go OVERBOARD. Twilight themed snacks, drinks and decorations. I even had Jane visit the party. But this, this was totally unplanned. I was moving the candle to put some more food on the table and I accidentally dropped the candle and spilled wax all over my hand. After I got over the burning pain, I noticed how perfect my accident was.

(Oh and for the record, I am Team Jacob and had a sign for him too.)5. Lily had Crazy Hair Day at her school last week and was VERY excited to wear pink in her hair. (And so was her Mama ;)
6. Bj plays guitar around here a lot and now Charlie has started joining him. Ah my little music nerds :)
7. I went on a little photo date with my photographer friend Tina. This is one of my favorites. My boots, Tina's legs.
8. Apparently "tree caterpillars" are very common. And apparently I am amazed in seeing them for the first time. There was a whole mass of them, but as I don't want to gross out any readers who may not want to see a mass of caterpillars, here is just two.
9. I love it that empty laundry basket + books + children related to the Willis sisters = cute children reading in laundry baskets.
10. And because he is SO STINKIN' CUTE, one more of Charlie. At least once, but more like ten times a day Bj and I will comment on the extreme cuteness of Charlie. He is cute in pictures yes, but even cuter when you spend time with him. How he is SO excited when he sees us across a parking lot or when we come home that he giggles this funny little low giggle. How he hangs his head or closes his eyes when he gets shy. How he gives the best hugs. How he is talking in more and more complete sentences like "Binky fell on the floor, Mama!" How he loves books, music, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, but not necessarily the ABC song (yes, SAME) and how he can't WAIT to pick up "Wiwy" at school. OH I love this kid. Even if he isn't the biggest fan of going upstairs for naptime.

December 29, 2009

Tonight Bj and I got to go on a very rare date night. Here's what we did.

First we went to Underhill's Games. For those of you in the know (and I am thinking that is exactly one person who reads this blog, Missy) this is where "the boys" go to get their games. Not just Scrabble or Monopoly, but award winning games that come mostly from Europe. This is generally our form of in home entertainment these days. He just wanted to show it off and show me how undorky it is.

Next we went to dinner at Macaroni Grill We just happened to have some giftcards which we needed to use while still in town and oh I am glad we did. Not only did we have a really good dinner, we also got some really good news from a friend :)

Finally we went to Archiver's which I neglected to take a picture of as we were running out of time and I jumped out of the car and ran in. Not nearly enough time in my 15 minute trip, and I felt like a crazy person who couldn't figure out where to go first, but I did get some goodies. Sadly they were all sold out of the Cosmo Cricket Jolly Holly Christmas paper...oh sadness, but I did get the paper I needed for my 12 days album. Here are my results. I got the chipboard in hopes that I can find the Cosmo Cricket still in stock somewhere. We got home and the fun continued. Check out 365 to see what we did next!

December 13, 2009

My friend Adela and I went to Chester County Book and Music Company today to meet Ree Drummond, or as she is more commonly know, The Pioneer Woman. I have been reading Pioneer Woman's blog for a few years now and was tickled pink when I heard she was writing a cookbook. Of course when I heard she was going to be coming within hours of me I jumped at the chance to go. So this morning I got up at 5:30, got ready, and Adela and I were off on our PW adventure. As we were beginning our trip we saw a salt truck. We both thought it was odd as it wasn't snowing, and it wasn't raining. (If only I had stayed up to watch the weather...) So we didn't really think anything of it, but about an hour and a half into the trip started seeing cars driving down the road with their hazards. Then more. Then an accident. Then another. Then another. Then another. By this time I am barely crawling down the road-especially after my brief fish-tail experience. All in all we counted 10 accidents, 11 if you double the accident where a van had actually overturned. It was that bad. We made it to the toll booth and commented on how bad it was and hear that we were probably the last car to come through because a semi had overturned. We were very, very lucky.

So we got to the bookstore and to our surprise, there weren't thousands of people waiting in line. Huh. Oh well. We got our numbers, claimed our seats in the second row and went to eat brunch. It was 10:30 by that point. The signing started at 2:30. We finished breakfast and went to a few stores where I noticed my eyes were as bloodshot as I have ever seen them. No more contacts for me.

We came back to the bookstore-a few more people, then walked around some more. While looking at a very cool big sibling book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, I got a terribly paper cut in between my thumb and index finger. Ouch.

A few more hours of waiting and then YEA! She was right in front of me! Every single bit as funny as you would think, and dimples for days. She even did her Ethel Merman impersonation. And I asked a question. "When will you be on Oprah?" And I didn't even sound like Minnie Mouse. :) I think my favorite part was her slip-up about thinking she couldn't home-school because she didn't wear...she stopped herself. "I don't want to say it just in case anyone is wearing a denim jumper in the audience."

Adela and I got to be in the third group to be signed (by that time there were a couple hundred people) so we were in quickly. I just asked her to write something witty :)

Suddenly we were done. Just like that. So we were off-attempting to find a scrapbook store (we ended up at someone's house somehow) so we decided to just call it a day and come home. It was a pretty uneventful trip home-Adela kept me occupied with random songs from my ipod. And then, at last, we were home-oh FOG! There was also horrible fog. We got our stuff, got out of the car and said goodbye. Suddenly I hear a "Whoo!" and see Adela flying up in the air. Then, somehow quite quickly and mysteriously, my feet were no longer under me and I was flying up in the air. I slammed my head against my brick house and landed on my bum. And my hand. Hard.

So. Let's recap. Tired back and hands from gripping the steering wheel for the last 1/2 hour of our journey. Paper cut. Sore hand, bruise on bum, and lump size of Mt. Rushmore on head. What I will do to meet thee, Ree. I guarantee I will never forget meeting you...

November 17, 2009

1. I had an awesome time in Pittsburgh this weekend with an old friend. How wonderful it is to be able to hang out like not a day had passed. We are still silly teenage girls at heart (with super cool grown-up apartments.) 2. I got a letter yesterday apologizing profusely for an accidental overcharge on a purchase I made on some tickets back in 2006. With 10% interest I am now $1.90 richer. Yes, I jest about this, but isn't it nice that there are still companies out there who do the right thing? Really nice.3. Charlie learned how to fully utilize the word "Daddee!" while I was gone. I am happy to report that Bj finally understands why sometimes Mama's head is about to explode some days. I think "Daddee!" was said nearly 2000 times from the time I got home to bedtime on Sunday night. (hee hee hee)4. Today he is officially back to "Mama? Mama? Mama? Mama? Mama?" so all is right in my world.5. The other day I finally gave in and ordered the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas piano book. It is really fun to play piano again. And yes, it is totally fine to practice Christmas music early especially when you need the practice as much as I do.6. Lily got in trouble tonight for calling Charlie weird. Her punishment was to give him a hug and tell him she was sorry. In her defense, at the time of the crime he was wearing this. And yes, I do help him put things on, but he literally will NOT LEAVE MY SIDE and will not stop saying MAMA! MONEY! MONEY! until I do. And, of course I am taking as many pictures of him dressed up as I can. I believe it will help with keeping him in line during the teenage years ;)7. We have mice again. I saw one scurry away when I opened my silverware drawer. AGAIN. I. HATE. MICE.8. Shelly's birthday was yesterday, so once again, Happy Birthday Shelly!!9. Lily has constant "friends" who play with her during quiet time and bedtime. Of course you remember Jafar, but lately it has been Susan from Monsters and Aliens (apparently Susan is her sister,) anywhere from three to five princes (she is of course their princess) and this week she told me that her new friend was the Madagascar Lion. And when she talks to him she says "Ok come on Madagascar Lion!" That girl has one heck of an imagination.10. We saw Lily's old dance teacher today. She not only recognized me immediately, but she also remembered Lily's name. Oh if it was only a bit closer...perhaps we will go back next year.11. (the bonus) I HAVE MICE AGAIN AND I AM GOING TO LOSE MY MIND!

August 11, 2009

1. It has come to the point in the summer when I am done with the crazy heat and I just want to wear jeans and light sweaters and well, not sweat to death walking to the mailbox. Is it that time for you?2. I am scrapping with Tina tonight-you know what that means, digi! I hope that she can teach me how to get rid of the number boogers coming out of Lily's nose. And yes Katherine I laughed OUT LOUD when I read that.3. Anyone out there have a biter/hitter/pincher? Any advice? I'm not so happy to see this coming out of my sweet baby boy. So far I have tried "gentle, gentle;" "NO!" and yes, even the trouble chair. 4.Tina is now here and look what I did!

No number boogers! And yes, it is slightly different, but I like it anyway :)

5. I also worked on a project for Elizabeth's FREE class over at Big Picture. I am doing a mini book with one side being all of our guests this summer and the other side being fun things we have done. So far I have two pages done. (I still can't believe how sick I was)

6. I got an itunes gift card for my birthday and really can't decide what to get. Any suggestions to make my decision near impossible?

7. And suddenly Typepad is double spacing. AND did anyone else try updating their "post to facebook" option? Seriously I love Typepad, but good heavens, test things before you release it-good thing they are quick responding to tickets...

8. Today I was at Target and a woman was in the electonics section playing "Heart & Soul." As my students will remember, that song was banned from my classroom when I was teaching as it is my personal goal to wipe that song from the music world. And it has been in my head All. Day. Long. (As I am sure it is now in yours.) I think when I go back to teach I will affix some plexiglass to my classroom piano with some easy song for the students to practice when they sit down at the piano. ANYTHING but Heart & Soul.

9. My computer is running slow as molasses. I have a lot of work to do to make some space on this baby.

10. There will soon be some exciting things happening with A Day in the Life Photography so check back next week! There may even be prizes involved!